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TIL of Times Beach, Missouri. In the early 70's, to curb a dust problem caused by dirt roads, the town hired a contractor to spray used motor oil on the roads. The motor oil had been mixed with another chemical, dioxin, leading to one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S history.

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QJGEM TIL despite being a massive success in Japan, Dragon Quest I sold so poorly in America, it was given away free with subscriptions of Nintendo Power. The promotion was so successful, Nintendo employees who sent out the game received a shirt saying, "I survived the 1990 Dragon Warrior mailing."
WpxA TIL the power-up mushroom in Super Mario Bros. and the mushroom consumed by Alice to alter her size are the same: Amanita muscaria.
D14Ge TIL that in the wine industry, adding water to wine to dilute it and create more product for sale is known as "adding Jesus units", in reference to Jesus creating wine from water.
yQWav TIL a woman's advanced metastatic breast cancer was cured with an experimental immunotherapy treatment. DNA in Judy Perkins' tumor tissue was analyzed for mutations specific to her cancer; billions of her unique T cells were lab-grown & infused back into her body with the aid of two drugs.
neLBB TIL of the 1947 NYC smallpox outbreak, which was stopped through aggressive public health policy led by health commssioner Dr. Israel Weinstein, leaving only 12 infected and 2 dead